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Step-by-Step: Move, Delete, & Rename |
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| What you will learn: |
to move/copy a folder by dragging and
right-dragging
to select multiple folders
to move/copy multiple folders at once
to undo a move
to delete a folder
to rename a folder
to undo a rename |
Start with: 
, windows
from previous lesson - one for your removable
Class disk and one for the folder
my docs
on the Class disk.
Making WinXP look like the illustrations
The methods you will be using work for both files and folders.
Move by Dragging
-
To move the windows for the
removable drive and for
my docs so that they do not overlap, drag them by their title bars.
Resize the windows if you need to.
-
Drag the folder excel docs from the
my docs window until your pointer is over folder
class in the drive window. The icon for this folder
class will change to show it is selected.
Windows
Vista adds a screen tip that tells you whether you are about to Move or
to Copy the folder. Excellent addition!
- Drop the folder excel doc on top of the folder
class.
You drop something that you have been dragging by releasing the mouse button that you were holding down. The object
being dragged is moved
and appears at the pointer location.
Except for
really small jobs, a Moving dialog displays while the computer moves the folder.
A progress bar gradually extends to show you how much of the job has been
done. (This particular job will finish before such a dialog can display!) There is a Cancel
button you can click, if you are fast enough! That is the only choice in
this dialog box.
If you
copy something, the dialog box will be titled Copying... Look at the title of
the dialog window to check on what you just
did!
When does dragging move
and when does it
copy?
When the original location and the destination
location are on the same drive (the drive for
removable media this
time), the folder is moved when you drag. If
the destination location is on a different
drive, the folder is copied.
Problem: Not
enough space: If there is not enough space to hold what you are copying or
moving, you will see a message box. Some files and folders may be copied/moved
before the message shows up. It can be difficult to know if there is enough
space ahead of time. Files can take more space on one drive than they do
on another. That happens when the drives are formatted with different rules,
which is common when there are two different types of storage, such as a hard
disk and a USB drive.
Solution 1: Leave the message open while you delete or move
files/folders on the destination disk to make more space. Then click the Retry or Try Again button.
Solution 2: Choose Cancel and find a different location for your copy/move.
Solution 3: Choose Cancel and select a smaller set of files and then try
again.
Move with Right Drag
-
Right drag the folder
word docs to the folder class
. When you release the mouse button to drop the folder, a context menu appears.
- Choose .
Notice all the choices: Cancel, Copy Here, Move Here, or Create Shortcut(s)
Here (to the object that you right dragged).
Recommended: Right drag files and folders always and you won't have to remember whether the object will be copied or moved. The menu will always give you a choice!
Undo & Redo Move
Windows keeps track of your actions. Often you can reverse those actions with
the Undo command. If you find that you were right the
first time, the Redo command will do what you just
undid. But you have to be quick. The commands are not available forever.
-
Open the folder
class by double-clicking it. The window shows the two folders you moved here:
excel docs and word docs
- Right click in a blank area of the window and from the context
menu, select . (The menu item changes
to show the last action that you took.) The word docs
folder vanishes.
- Undo again. The
excel docs folder vanishes.
- From the context menu select . The
excel docs
folder comes back.
- Redo again. The word docs
folder returns. Hurrah!
It would be nice to see a list of the actions for Undo and Redo, but there is
not one.
Select and Move Multiple Folders: Marquee Select
There are several ways to select multiple folders. The method used here is
particularly useful when the icons for your files and folders are next to each
other.
-
Click in a blank spot
in the window and
drag. A box called the marquee appears as you
drag. (Pronounced
. It's French.)
- Keep dragging until the box covers enough of the icons for the two folders
excel docs and word
docs
that the icons become highlighted, which shows that they are selected.
(Your marquee box does not have to completely enclose the icons.)
- Now release the mouse button. This is called marquee select.
-
Drag either of the selected folders over to the
my docs window and drop. Both folders are dragged since both were selected!
Windows
Vista adds to the dragged icon the number of objects you are
dragging. This is very helpful when you are moving or copying a large number of
items.
Delete Folder
- Click on the folder
paint docs in the window for
my docs to select it.
-
Press the DELETE key on your keyboard. One of two dialog boxes will appear
asking you to confirm that you want to delete this folder.
- Send to Recycle Bin: If what you are deleting can be saved in the Recycle Bin
and therefore can be undeleted later, you see a dialog with the icon for the
Recycle Bin, like:
-
- Permanently delete: If what you are deleting cannot be put in the
Recycle Bin, because it is on removable media or is too large to fit in the
available space in the Recycle Bin, then you will see a somewhat different
dialog:
You cannot use Undo to get
back anything that was permanently deleted!!!
Windows
Vista will allow files and folders from a USB drive to go to the Recycle
Bin.
Older versions will not.
- Click on the Yes
button.
Recover a
deleted file from the Recycle Bin:
If you find that you made a mistake soon enough, you may be able to
recover deleted items that went to the Recycle Bin. If the Undo option is not
still available, open the Recycle Bin by
double-clicking its Desktop icon. Select the item you want back, and choose File > Restore.
The Recycle Bin will only hold so much and will clean itself out as it needs
space for new deletions. So you can't undo your deletions forever. If you are
deleting a large number of files or very large files, the Recycle Bin may not have room
for them at all.
Permanently
delete files or folders
immediately:
Hold the SHIFT key down while pressing the DELETE key. The selected item(s) will
NOT be put in the Recycle Bin even if they could have fit in it. They are
destroyed. Fancy file recovery software may be able to get them back.
Maybe!
Always look carefully at the
confirmation dialog box. If the icon is the Recycle Bin, then you can undelete your deletion, at least in the near future. Otherwise it is a permanent loss.
Rename Folder: Mouse
You don't have to use menus to rename folders and files, if you can click
carefully.
-
To rename the folder
word docs,
click on its label.
- Pause briefly and
click again. Clicking too quickly will result in a double-click, which
will open the folder.
Problem:
You double-clicked
and opened the folder by accident.
Solution: If a new window opened, close the new window and try
again. If the display changed in the same window, click the Back button
and try again.
Problem: Lost
highlight for the label
Solution: Click off the label in a blank area of the window and
then click the label again.
-
Type pictures and
don't click anywhere else yet. You changed your mind and don't want to rename
after all!
-
While the name is
still highlighted, press the ESC key at the upper left of your
keyboard.
The folder name will return to the previous name.
Let's try a different name.
- Click on the label
word docs. Pause and
click again.
- Type reports , and then
click in a blank spot in the window. The name is changed.
Hmmm. You still don't like this name. This time we will let Undo come to
the rescue.
Undo Rename
- Right click in a blank area in the window and from the context menu
select to undo the change. This works well when the highlight has been
lost. The label will return to word docs.
What
the menu shows that you can Undo will change depending on what you just did! It's always the very last thing you did.
There is no history list that you can see, though Windows does remember more than one action in
the more recent versions. So catch those mistakes quickly!
- Close all open My Computer/Computer windows with the method of your
choice:
- Close button
- File > Exit
- Double-click the control icon on the title bar or the title bar itself.
-
If you wish, you may return WinXP to its previous state by undoing your changes.
Making WinXP look like the illustrations
